Jabra Evolve2 40 PC Headset – Noise Cancelling Microsoft Teams Certified Stereo Headphones With 3-Microphone Call Technology – USB-A Cable – Black

Product Information

Those using the Jabra Direct software can make adjustments to increase or decrease the output across bass, the mid-range and treble as required. But being realistic, Jabra made the Evolve2 75 series with exactly this price point in mind, and they’re constructed and specified accordingly. And, therefore a cheaper version of this design probably wouldn’t perform as well or last as long in frontline use.

Jabra estimates the earbuds can last up to eight hours per charge with ANC on, or up to 10 hours with it off. The case holds up to an additional 25 hours of battery life, again depending on your use of ANC and typical listening volume level. The company claims you can recharge the earphones in about two hours and that five minutes of charging gets you roughly an hour of playtime.

The only downside to ANC is that it reduces battery life, reducing talk time from 24 hours to just 18 hours. That said, unless the shifts being worked are entirely illegal, this isn’t an issue that most wearers are likely ever to encounter. Typically, when headphone maker produces a second version of a successful design, they often retain much of the original structure and technology, primarily to reduce costs. A sufficiently simple layout that most people should embrace after receiving a relatively short walkthrough on how to operate them. What especially impressed us was how easily these can be placed on the charger, reducing the possibilities of those awkward moments when you arrive for work and then realise that the headset isn’t charged.

What is more difficult to gauge is the clarity of speaking for those at the other end of the line, as that’s potentially more important than the experience of the wearer. While this headset might be inherently easier for a right-handed person to use, this bias isn’t as evident as we’ve seen elsewhere, and the button selection is reasonably well dispersed between the two sides.

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While it is possible to charge these using only a USB cable, we recommend investing in the charger, as it has a dramatically better design than the original Evolve. Instead of the large and awkward frame that the headset hung on, the new charger is small, discreet and the way the headphones land on it is elegant. Once you're past the setup process, the app shows an image of the product with battery life readouts for each earpiece and the case. Below this, you can select between ANC, HearThrough (transparency), or off modes. If you select either the ANC or HearThrough options, a fader appears that lets you control their respective intensity. For those using these on a Windows PC or Apple Mac, Jabra provides Jabra Direct, a tool to manage the headphones and apply firmware enhancements when required. Softphone support is provided by default for Microsoft Teams, and Zoom on the MS Teams variant. These should also work well with Skype and Mitac, amongst other popular tools. It’s tempting to wish these were cheaper, so someone sourcing headsets for many employees wouldn’t eliminate these from a procurement exercise-based purely on the cost per unit. Overall, these sounded much better than we’d anticipated, and we can see no good reason why these couldn’t be used for other purposes than conference calls when the need arises.